Chapter 32 – Battle
Monday, the 22nd of July, dawned to brilliant summer skies at Potter Manor and Harry and Hermione woke, happily wrapped up in each other with the pleasant memories from the night before. They traded a dozen small, sweet kisses and woke slowly as light filtered in around the sides of their curtains. The tempus alarm had been set for seven and they crawled out no more than ten minutes later, after a slow start to appreciate each other. Then they enjoyed a joint shower that was a bit more hasty than either would have preferred, but they had a houseful of guests that they needed to join for breakfast.
The Potters arrived on the veranda for lunch under the beautiful skies at a few minutes after half past the hour and found all but a few of their guests already seated. All of the Aurors were seated with their squads and all the hit wizards were with the squads they were assigned to. There was a feeling of anticipation in the air, but it didn't affect appetites as everyone ate heartily of the usual fine spread that the elves had provided. Harry felt a bit nervous, but more than anything he was ready to have the day done. Hermione squeezed his hand and they went to sit across from Amelia, Sirius, and the Weasleys. As soon as he started to eat, Harry's stomach settled and his appetite made itself known.
Once everyone was done eating, the elves cleared the tables and Kingsley stood to address the group.
"Alright, it's a quarter past 0800. The duel as you know is at 1200. I want us all there and in position by 1100. That includes the platforms, but we've got the setup worked out on those. I know this is the hard part of an operation where you have to wait in the last hours, but let's use this time. Check your equipment and armor. And watch those in your squad. If you see something out of place on someone, tell them. Even a tear in a robe can cause something to catch during battle. For those who have mirrors make sure you test them also and get them positioned where you want them. Move around a bit and ensure they don't shift. Lord Potter has also made us some medical portkeys. Each person will get two and I'll be handing them out shortly. Activation password is Reagan and the portkeys will take one person only. The portkey will drop the injured in the arrival hall here where the elves will be waiting as security. If there's a security breach an elf will remove any hostiles off the property. Otherwise they will take the person to the infirmary for treatment immediately. Now, at 1030, we will be leaving via portkeys by squad to the duel site. Squads 1 and 2 go first as recon. We've kept monitors on the site and there shouldn't be any issues, but just in case, there will be a three minute delay before the other squads portkey with 1 minute delays until everyone is on site. Once everyone is on site, you all know your positions. Platforms are priority one to be set up. The Potter allies that will be snipers on the platforms should be in place and set up no later than 1100. I expect the squads all in place and disillusioned before that. Any questions?"
Kingsley paused and waited, but no questions were posed. None of these details were new, except for the specifics on the portkeys, and then it was just the details since portkeys were often used to move the injured away from the action during raids. The extra security that Harry had added onto the portkeys was a bit unusual, but he was being paranoid about bringing people into his home and worrying about the portkeys falling into enemy hands. Kingsley hadn't minded, even if he had thought it was a bit excessive. With no one posing questions, Harry stepped up to stand by Kingsley and say a few words as well.
"Before everyone goes to get ready, I just wanted to thank you all. I know this is your job, but I appreciate you all backing me up. It was my idea to call this duel and bring this war to a final conflict. I also want to thank you for working with myself and all of my allies over these past few days to train us as much as possible despite us being civilians. It's been an honor to work with you. It's also been a pleasure to get to know a good number of you on a more personal level after hours. I hope you know that I count you all as friends."
Harry didn't want to go overboard so he just gave a small nod as he met the eyes of a few of those who he had come to know more over the past days. He then stepped back and rejoined the rest of his allies as Kingsley dismissed everyone to their tasks and the group all gradually dispersed around the manor. Harry stepped to the side and signaled for all his allies. He also tapped Dumbledore on the shoulder and asked him to collect all the Order members. Once the thirty odd civilians were gathered, Harry led them wordlessly to the lord's office. He had one last arrangement that he had been working on with Kingsley that had only arrived the day before. It had actually taken help from France and it hadn't been cheap, but Jean Louis had helped once again, even if Harry did hate having to wait until the last minute. As soon as the doors closed, everyone found seats where they could and Harry addressed the crowd.
"Alright everyone, I have one more last minute item. I've been working on this for days, but I didn't want to say anything in case I couldn't get these for everyone. I know you've seen me disappear into my office a good bit. Well, I've been making a fair few international floo calls to Monsieur Delacour in France. Kingsley tried to help, but the resources here were already stretched. I wanted all my allies to have standard Auror armor robes. Apparently the DMLE budget is so strapped that Kingsley hasn't been able to buy new robes for the squads for nearly four years. Just getting robes for new recruits is the best he can manage. Amelia is working on changing that, but it will take time. Anyway, at most he could find me a half dozen used robes. Hermione and I could have some custom tailored, but again it's a time issue. Thankfully, France has a surplus. They also were able to work with their friends in Belgium and get a few robes as well. I don't know what excuse was used. I had to pay of course, but that's of little consequence. Now, I guessed on sizes and bought a few extra. Since all this has been continuing to happen in the last days, I added in the Order members who joined us. Hermione helped on estimating sizes, thankfully. So…Giley, Dobby!"
The elves popped in, levitating hanging racks of robes in shades of black and grey. Two more elves joined them and immediately began going around the room, looking each person up and down as they visually sized individuals and then went to the robes and pulled out ones that they thought would fit. As the elves worked, Amelia shook her head and turned to Harry.
"Alright, I'm impressed Harry. I turned my armor robes in when I became Minister because I knew how short on supplies the department was. I actually wasn't looking forward to fighting without them, but Kingsley told me he was 'looking into it'. Obviously he knew about your plan. I had no idea the French had this much extra. I'm jealous."
"Well it wasn't easy to get them to work with me at first. Jean-Louis really made the deal. After all of this is done, I'm donating the robes to the department. I'm not planning on doing any more fighting after this."
"Well thank you Harry. Armor robes are legend. Not just anybody gets them. I really had no hope of ever getting the chance to use any."
"I just wish I could have had them available for training, but we do the best we can."
"Well we have a bit of time yet. I'm going to wear mine and get used to moving in it for a few hours."
"A capital idea. And thank you Harry for including myself and the other Order members."
Harry gave a nod to Dumbledore and then let Dobby fit his robe to him. Soon everyone had a robe that was a good fit, although a couple of the witches had to have theirs shortened a bit. Those were the only adjustments though and the elves had the changes made in minutes. Finally, everyone applied their mirrors to their robes and then went downstairs to the training rooms for a bit of practice.
Downstairs they found a couple of squads doing some basic warmups, but the squad leaders stepped aside and let the civilians get used to their new robes for about forty minutes. The Aurors were surprised to see the new gear, but welcomed the fact that everyone would have a bit more protection. Shortly before ten everyone decided to call an end to their mild drills. The robes were a bit heavier than they were used to, but moved well and nobody had any issues. Everyone then made their way to the veranda where all the squads were beginning to assemble in preparation for the beginning departures at 1030.
At precisely 1030, squads 1 and 2 portkeyed out in formation. Harry couldn't help but give a small sigh. The start of the battle had begun. The first soldiers were moving into position on the battlefield he had chosen a week earlier. Hermione squeezed his hand as they heard Kingsley receive the all clear mirror call from the squad leaders. Next to portkey were squads 3, 4, and 5. This included the platforms, as well as all of the embedded Order members and allies. The Potters were personally with squad 3 and arrived on site at 1038.
As soon as the platforms arrived, the teams assigned to them went to work immediately on their setup. The practice and mockup at the manor paid off and all the platforms were in place with runes activated before the 1100 hour that Kingsley wanted. The first platform was Ron, Emmeline Vance, and George. Second was Susan, Madam Longbottom, and Luna. Third was Blaise, Xeno, and Ginny. The fourth and final platform was Neville, Fred, and Mundungus Fletcher.
The decisions on who to pair up had been made to split couples, as well as to mix the couple of non-combatant Order members among the allies. Both Emmeline and Mundungus had participated in some of the drills, but it was obvious that neither would be much good in the heat of the fighting. Madam Longbottom meanwhile conceded that she was past her prime, but still had a sharp eye and volunteered for the sniper role. Xeno meanwhile was always an odd one and seemed to find it hard to keep track of battlefield strategies. Still, he had quite good aim when given a target, so he was assigned a sniper role as well. As for Fred and George, they diligently practiced with their sniper teams, but also contributed some of their famous potions and all of the platforms were stocked with bins of potion grenades that could be thrown and cause secondary effects to distract Death Eaters while they were being fired upon.
By 1100 all the squads were in place and all had their additional people including the allies and Order members in place as Kingsley had directed. The sun was moving higher in the sky and everyone was waiting as the hour drew nearer. Harry stood toward the front, near a large boulder, ready to step forth as the challenger. His outer robes displayed all his house crests, but he made sure to push the Gryffindor crest forward to prominence.
As everyone was settling in to wait at a few minutes past the hour the entire group was startled by a ripple in the air and a barely audible series of pops that brought everyone to attention and almost brought a rain of spellfire down on the group of individuals that appeared suddenly in front of Harry. Then the unusual robes were recognized and the tension abated just a bit as Kingsley took a cautious step forward. After a few quiet words he confirmed the identities of the group and they left to assume positions wherever they wished. The Unspeakables had arrived.
The final 50 minutes or so was an agonizingly long wait for everyone. Harry was glad for his mental link with Hermione that allowed him to at least carry on a conversation while the rest of the group maintained silence. He was forward with squad 1 and Kingsley, while she was thankfully back and east with squad 4. She wasn't initially happy with it, but other Order members were there as well since they were civilians, so she couldn't complain.
At around ten minutes to noon Kingsley tapped his mirror and began to signal his squad leaders. Everyone around started to shift as muscles were eased and every group was ready for what was to come.
Finally Harry felt that the noon hour must be imminent when the sound of numerous incoming apparitions rent the air. The Auror squads were all well back with easy visibility to where their foes had appeared downfield. Harry quickly assessed what he saw and it was easy to pick out the seasoned troops as they arrived in neat lines, much as the Auror squads did. Then there was a more rag-tag group that appeared to be bunched together that surged forward without much order. Harry suppressed a head shake. Even the civilians in their group were better trained after a few days than that. As the apparitions and a few portkeys finished depositing Voldemort's troops, a gust of wind blew through with a foul malevolence. On that tide came an additional thirty or so odd wisps of black smoke that soon settled out to become the forms of Voldemort and his elite inner circle. When the Dark Bastard himself finally arrived in the front, he looked across the field at Harry and he knew it was time.
I love you Hermione. It's time to finish this.
With that, Harry left all of his friends and family and began the slow walk across to the center of the chosen space that he had selected for his duel. He had his wand out, up in front of his face in the manner of professional dueling. He was using all of his Occlumency to project a calm front as he gathered his magic. As he did so, he felt a hum about him and the land itself almost seemed to call to him. Yes, this land was indeed special.
As Harry approached, Voldemort did the same, walking in similar measured strides as both marched in toward each other in the manner of proper duelers. Once they were three meters from each other, they stopped. Then Harry cast a sonorous and issued his formal challenge.
"I, Harry James Potter, heir of Godric Gryffindor, come here today to call forth a duel upon the head of Tom Marvolo Riddle, heir of Salazar Slytherin, as recompense for his murder of my parents and his attempts upon my own life. I call this duel under the old laws of our ancestors from the times of the illustrious Founders. May there be no cease until one of us gives of our life. Let Magic be our arbiter and let no man interfere. So mote it be."
"I, Lord Voldemort, last of the line of Salazar Slytherin, of that name I no longer choose to take, accept your challenge. Let Magic be our arbiter and let no man interfere. So mote it be."
As soon as Voldemort finished his acceptance of the challenge, a ring of blue flames sprung wide around the two of them, at least a hundred meters in circumference. Within the ranks on both sides of the fight there were gasps of shock at the display and then everyone watched as the two fighters observed the formality and barely bowed to each other before the duel began.
Harry remembered the graveyard as he briefly bent at the waist in a vague bow and Voldemort did the same to initiate their duel. Then he didn't even bother looking up before he began casting and neither did Voldemort. Harry's first cast was a strong and wide reducto that he sent at the same time as he stepped wide from the avada kedavra that was Tom's first cast. Really, the dark lord wasn't even very original. The reducto Harry started with was aimed at his opponent's legs and the ground. It missed the legs, but it did kick up a bit of a crater in the ground and a lot of dust and debris that got in Tom's face, which caused the briefest delay in the next cast and Harry would take any advantage as he cast a strong shield before conjuring a flame whip that he had been working with Dumbledore on for the past few days.
Meanwhile, as soon as the duel began, the combatants behind both fighters charged toward each other. The groups fanned around the circle of flames that encompassed the duel and a few looked to watch, but soon everyone was too busy with their own smaller duels. The forward squads of Aurors met with the inward circle of Death Eaters immediately and also focused on Fenrir's pack that was running in at terrible speed from the west side. Mixed in with the squads were the Unspeakables, who kept disappearing and reappearing randomly and firing curses that could only be identified about half the time. Still, they were always helpful, so the Aurors didn't complain and just made room for their weirdness. When the werewolves ran into squad two, the Unspeakables produced some kind of potions in small globes that exploded in mid-air and began to throw them around randomly. Thankfully whatever was in the globes seemed to do nothing to regular wizards, but sent many of the werewolves to the ground screaming in pain.
While squad two was dealing with the bulk of Fenrir's pack, squad one included Kingsley and Dumbledore and were glad for the extra firepower as they dealt with most of the Inner Circle Death Eaters, including all three of the Lestranges. Bellatrix was her usual crazy self, spouting off insults in between a range of foul dark curses and unforgiveables delivered in her strange baby voice. It would have been funny if she hadn't been frighteningly dangerous, as emphasized when a dark purple curse hit one Auror causing him to go down and not come back up again. During a brief moment that Kingsley had to glance at the man, he saw that most of his organs had exited his body and knew that he was beyond hope as he spun and engaged Rodolphus once again.
As the forward squads were tasting the fury of the best of the Death Eaters, the rear squads were just engaging the lesser squads of Death Eaters, who although lesser organized, were still starting fresh and full of adrenaline. They came out firing a lot of curses that, while not original, were still plentiful. Unfortunately for a few of their own they weren't always accurate. From the sniper platforms, those with an aerial view watched some of the early carnage and began to take out targets who soon became even more confused as they tried to figure out where they were getting hit from. It soon became apparent just how disorganized the dregs of Voldemort's lesser ranks were. When one group doubled back on itself after losing a dozen members from sniper fire they literally congregated directly under the platform that Fred was on and he took advantage of their folly as he deposited some leftover failed potions experiments on their heads. Soon the fifteen men were running in all directions screaming in pain as the viscous goo coated their bodies, causing painful burning boils on every bit of skin it touched. Shaking his head, Fred high fived Neville and returned to firing piercing hexes out across the field at selected Death Eaters.
While individual battles raged across the battlefield, the most important battle continued inside the ring of blue flames as Harry put everything he had into battling Voldemort. In the first five minutes of battle he had already used every curse he had and was now linking together chains of spells as he weaved and dodged within the circle. He knew that he would never match Tom for arcane knowledge, but he was pouring everything he had into the battle and hoping it was enough. He had more to live for certainly. As the battle waged on, time became irrelevant. The battle was like a dance, flowing in and out, with a continual pattern. Although it changed, it seemed to return to similar sequences at different points. When they had begun, Tom had insisted on talking and taunting, but he had since ceased that since Harry refused to respond. Harry was too busy analyzing his opponent's moves. He had read books on magical dueling as well as fencing and was trying to find a weakness in Tom's strategy, but was not able to. As the battle continued on for twenty and then thirty minutes, Harry felt fatigue setting in. Both he and Tom had achieving very minimal victories. A small slash there, a small hit there. Harry was feeling bruised and battered and he thought perhaps he was showing it. Looking at Tom, he didn't look near as bad as Harry was beginning to feel. Then Harry thought of Hermione and he strengthened as he felt her not far away and she was doing well…
A few hundred meters to the south of the ring of blue flames, Hermione Potter was being forced to focus on her own battle. She was with squad four, midway back in the battle. It was a compromise position. She wouldn't agree to be put in a safe position on a platform, but she wasn't up in the front either. Even she had to admit that she would be a hindrance in squads one or two. And it wasn't like squad four was bored. They were rushed by a wave of young Death Eaters only a couple of minutes after Harry had initiated the duel. She had tried to keep a light touch on Harry's mind, but as soon as she had started fighting, she had needed all her focus.
The lesser ranks of Death Eaters may not have had finesse, but they were dangerous enough. There were also half again more of them in numbers than there were Aurors in squad four. It seemed that Voldemort had been recruiting from Eastern Europe and had brought in more troops than they had originally counted on. She had been pushed to her limits as she used everything she had been learning and practicing in all her training. Each time she seemed to take one opponent down, another took their place. Nearby, she saw glimpses of Molly Weasley fighting with an amazing strength and tenacity that she would never have never guessed at. As the fighting calmed, she had a chance to move closer to the Weasley matriarch and saw how tired the woman looked, although the fire still burned in her eyes. She also saw that Molly had a number of small wounds on herself, much the same as Hermione did. They were lucky though that the group was not very organized and within the first quarter hour they had sectioned them into a dozen small pieces. At least three of those smaller groups were easily stunned and bound when they had started to argue among themselves. Another group hadn't even been able to communicate because they'd been separated from their translator. It was quite a mess. Within forty minutes of the start of the duel squad four had their quadrant of the battlefield secure with rows of stunned and bound Death Eaters, the majority of them foreign.
With her own battlefield chaos past, Hermione disillusioned herself and crouched down to meditate and restore her connection to Harry. She was tired and she had a few bruises, but it was nothing compared to what she felt when she reached her husband…
As Hermione had a lull in the battle things were not going as well for everyone else. Squads one and two had whittled down the worse of the inner circle Death Eaters, but it had not been easy and they had suffered heavy losses, not the least of which was Kingsley's left hand. Dumbledore had been amazing given his advanced age, which was showing exponentially with each passing minute. A full half of the two squads had fallen and only half of those had managed to be portkeyed back to the manor for medical care. The inner circle and Voldemort's best fighters had also taken heavy losses, but stubbornly Bellatrix, Yaxley, Macnair and Rowle were still fighting strong a full forty minutes into the battle and they directed another twenty or so elite fighters around them.
The battle was continuing on as it had been with squads one and two receiving support from the nearest platform, providing sniper shots as best they could to the fast moving fighters. It was Macnair who finally realized that some of those who were falling were not taking shots from the immediate battlefield. Although busy dueling the second in command of squad two, he began to look around and try to analyze what was happening. When he finally landed a bone breaker that took his opponent to the ground, he acted faster than anyone was able to predict. Before the snipers on the platform could react, Macnair had his infamous axe off of his back and in the air as he ran across the field and toward the trees, screaming like some Norse berserker. Once he reached the trees, he was a madman, swinging wildly at whatever he could not see, gouging trunks everywhere and taking out branches wildly. Unfortunately, his axe managed to hit the supports of the platform that Ron, Emmeline, and George were on. Before they could act, the platform was falling ten meters to the ground. All three cast charms to slow their descent or soften their fall, but that only took care of the immediate fall. Soon all three were on the ground with Macnair and his axe flailing nearby.
While squad one was remaining quite busy, squad three had joined squad two and the Unspeakables to finish off the last of Fenrir's pack. Whatever was in the strange globes the Unspeakables had thrown had worked to an extent, although the larger wolves had just been injured to a point of madness and had been harder to subdue. Worst of these was the alpha wolf himself. Fenrir had killed two Aurors and maimed three others and two Unspeakables before he had finally been killed. Squad two had used up nearly all of its medical portkeys and many of those who were left behind wondered if their friends would ever fight alongside them again. In total it took nearly an hour to contain the pack and the two dozen additional Death Eaters that had joined them.
Beyond squad four the rest of the squads also wrapped up their fighting quickly, finding much of what squad four did; a large force of recently recruited poorly trained foreign fighters that were easily overcome and confused in the heat of battle. Of course there were still casualties even within these ranks, including Order member Dedalus Diggle, who was left back due to his age. He was a bit slower and suffered a violent cutting curse that caused severe internal injuries. His was one of the most severe injuries in squad five and was medically evacuated twenty minutes into the fighting.
While the backup squads finished mopping up the dregs of Voldemort's army, Hermione reached out mentally for her husband and dug deep into herself as she willed her strength and stamina into Harry. Across the field of battle, Harry felt her touch just as he dodged a sickly pinkish-purple curse and went rolling sideways, feeling the static of whatever the spell was brush through his hair as he came all too close to finding out once again what matter of arcane studies Tom had been delving into. The move though only showed him that he was slowing down as each minute of the battle waged on. As he finished the roll though, he felt the unmistakable touch of his Hermione and then the infusion of power as she pushed into him. The feeling was amazing and he felt almost giddy with relief. Then his training asserted himself as he finished his roll, popped to his feet, and simultaneously fired a linked spell chain of two fire curses, a cutting curse, and a reducto. All were fired as he looped to his left, moving with Tom as his opponent seemed annoyed with his quick response and responded with a shield that wasn't quite fast enough to avoid the cutting curse, which clipped Tom's leg as Harry slid under the edge of the shield. If it had been the beginning of the battle, Harry wouldn't have gotten through the edge of the shield, but even Tom was beginning to show a bit of fraying around the edges.
While Harry was receiving his second wind thanks to his link with Hermione, the battle was passing the fifty minute mark and squads one and two had most of the inner circle Death Eaters down with the exception of Bellatrix and Yaxley. They were also backed up by an additional nine elite fighters who were all that were left of the thirty elite fighters that had surrounded the inner circle for support at the start of the battle. Of the two squads, a full third were had been evacuated with medical portkeys and a half dozen would never fight again. It had indeed been just as difficult and horrible of a battle as they had all predicted.
It was as the battle was nearing the fifty minute mark that Kingsley and Williamson finally took down Bellatrix together. Unfortunately, while they were achieving that victory, behind them one of the elite fighters that had been all but wrapped up by squad two decided to launch one final curse before he finally died with a bone breaker to his chest. The curse was a wild shot fiendfyre that went wildly out of control and hit two other Death Eaters and an Auror before finding a wealth of fuel when it hit the nearby trees. Soon everyone was screaming as they knew that there was a platform nearby and it was Dumbledore who, exhausted as he was, conjured a massive bubble of water and sent it to the forest. Meanwhile squad four and those not actively fighting in squads two and three went running to assist. The problem with fiendfyre was that only specially conjured water or very powerful finite spells would work to control it and only the most powerful of wizards could conjure or cast what was needed. While everyone worked to do what they could, Blaise, Xeno, and Ginny evacuated their platform post haste. Unfortunately, both Xeno and Blaise broke bones getting off the platform and all three discovered they weren't able to move faster than the fire. They made it out, but not without serious or critical injuries. Eventually, after a full twenty minutes, Dumbledore's water bubbles finally contained the raging fire beasts. It had taken everything the old man had left though and he had collapsed from magical exhaustion immediately after.
With the boost of power from Hermione, Harry pushed forward and threw everything he had at Tom. Time ceased to exist as the world was nothing but the small patch of singed and churned earth within the blue flames that they now inhabited. As they passed an hour, Harry launched a ferocious sequence of spells that broke Tom's shield. The last spell was a flame whip that looped on Tom's wand arm. Willing all of his renewed power into the spell, Harry let out a primal scream and poured his magic through his wand before giving an almighty yank that caused Tom to give a matching scream before he was sent flying and landed hard on his back ten meters away. Although it had taken a lot from him, Harry pulled on his connection with Hermione and focused on their love as he immediately began a second spell chain just as Tom was jumping up and raising a shield again. It wasn't quick enough though as Harry landed a sectumsempra and a reducto that pushed Tom back into the magical blue flames that outlined the dueling ring. The flames in return pushed the opponent back, knocking Tom forward. As Tom struggled to stand upright, he had the first 'avada' out of his mouth when Harry's cutting curse hit him. Since he still wasn't completely upright, the spell took off the top of Tom Riddle's head, immediately stopping the second half of the spell from ever being uttered as Tom Riddle's blank eyes looked at Harry one last time before he fell face first into the dirt. It actually took a moment for Harry to realize that it was done. Finally. After all the training and all the studying he had taken down Tom Riddle with a simple cutting curse delivered at just the right moment. With that thought, Harry collapsed to his knees in exhaustion as the magical blue flames died, indicating that the duel was recognized as complete.
Chapter 33 – Aftermath
It was a couple of minutes after the blue flames disappeared before the last remnants of Voldemort's army finally realized what had happened and dropped their wands. All of the inner circle were dead, but a few remaining elite fighters were still battling with squads one and two. For those who were marked by their master, they fell immediately, but for those who hadn't earned that privilege, it didn't take long to come to the realization of what had happened as they watched the last of their comrades fall to the ground dead beside them. Then Harry used the last of his strength and stood proudly as he cast a sonorous and his voice ripped across the field.
"LAY DOWN YOUR WANDS. I HAVE DEFEATED YOUR MASTER. TOM RIDDLE IS NO MORE!"
Just as Harry cancelled his broadcast spell and felt like he would collapse once more, he was hit with an incoming charge as his wife finally reached him, after running full out across most of the length of the battlefield. She was a bit battered and worse for wear, but never had she looked better to him as her lips locked onto his and she wrapped herself around him. Both were exhausted though as it had taken both of their strength to defeat Tom and they finally gave in and collapsed to their knees together. They would remain like that for countless minutes until they were actually found surprisingly by Dobby.
"Master and mistress, Dobby is here to take you home. Mister King Man was taken to the manor for his injuries and said the battle was over and you should be coming back."
Hermione turned to the elf and gave a small nod.
"Hi Dobby. Yes, we were going to come, but we're too tired."
"No worries, Dobby be taking you. Master and mistress need healing also."
Using supreme effort, Harry and Hermione helped each other to struggle to their feet, wobbling quite a bit. Once they were upright, Dobby took each of them by a hand and then popped them away, arriving back in the entry hall of Potter Manor. Just being home helped to energize them both just a bit as they looked around at the frantic hive of activity. The Potter elves were busy triaging injuries still and some of the lesser injured were still sitting in chairs, waiting to be taken into the infirmary. Dobby proceeded to drag them toward the infirmary, where Healer Reagan was working on stabilizing and dispatching the worst of the injured, with the help of the Grangers. Jean turned and saw them first, crying out to her children.
"Hermione! Harry!"
"Mum, we're alright. Exhausted, but not critically injured. Take care of the others. "
"I'll be the judge of that. Anyway, your father is providing Reagan's extra set of hands right now. I'm familiar with the basic potions and Auror Lacey knows some basic diagnostic spells. Let's take you two to the hall and check you over. The elves put some settees out this way."
Unable to argue with that compromise, they followed to the hallway and settled on the settees as Auror Lacey followed Jean and began to remove the heavy armor robes before starting to cast diagnostic spells over both of them. The first unusual reading she found was that they were identical on their magical exhaustion readings with both being at 9% total volume. It was just another aspect of the soul bond that showed how they had pooled their resources equally. Most magicals would pass out somewhere between five and ten percent, so it was amazing that they were both still awake and coherent.
As for injuries, Hermione had a number of bruises, the most severe being one on her thigh where she had taken a glancing bludgeoner that would have done more damage without the armor robes. She also had a nasty cut across the back of her wand hand that a combination of a healing spell and dittany took care of. With a shower and a day's rest she would be fine.
Harry was another matter, with so many bruises that they couldn't even be counted. The worse were the plethora across his rib cage, which appeared to have taken several severe hits since he had five broken ribs and a partially collapsed lung. As soon as Auror Lacey found that, she stopped the diagnostics and moved him immediately in to see Healer Reagan. Harry may be tough and used to not showing his injuries, but he was actually much worse off than he was letting on. Healer Reagan had just finished bundling Blaise off to St. Mungo's and immediately turned his attention to the Lord of the Manor, taking over on the diagnostics to start.
"Alright Lord Potter, along with your chest injuries, the cut to your left arm severed a muscle that I will have to knit back together. You also have three broken bones in your left foot, two torn ligaments in your left knee, a concussion, and a minor skull fracture. That's just the major injuries, not counting at least nine other smaller cuts that in the muggle world would at least earn you a few stitches and a host of bruises that I can't even count. I really should pack you off to St. Mungo's."
"No hospitals!"
"Yes, your lady told me you don't like hospitals. Well, you're young and the injuries are stable for now. I'm going to have an elf take you up to your suite and I'll treat you there. First, we need to treat your lungs and the bone injuries. I'll also patch up the cuts. The bruises will resolve over the next few days. In a week or so, you'll be good as new. I don't need to tell you though that I'm going to be pouring liters of potions into you."
Harry made a face and the healer chuckled.
"Healer, before we get started, I need to know the total casualty and injury numbers."
"Later. After…"
Harry pushed himself up in the bed and willed a bit of the magic he had left forward as he rubbed his signet and glared at the healer.
"I am Lord Potter and you are a guest here, you will do as you are bid! I want the numbers!"
Jean looked a bit taken aback, while Hermione smirked. Harry didn't throw his weight around often, but he was exhausted and at the end of his patience. She noticed though that Healer Reagan, who she remembered was muggleborn, didn't seem impressed. She decided that she should intervene.
"Harry, Healer Reagan is just doing his job, I know you are tired and hurting, but please don't get upset with him for helping. Come on love. Healer, I think my husband will rest better if he is better informed and isn't fretting."
"I suppose. I don't have the exact numbers yet. It's been a bit chaotic. I've treated forty-two and sent twenty-four to St. Mungo's. I've lost fourteen since they arrived and I don't know how many never made it to me. One of those was Director Shacklebolt himself. He lost a good portion of his left hand, including three fingers. It was cauterized though and he's a tough enough bastard that he kept fighting until the shock finally got him. You probably want to know about your other friends and allies. Dumbledore magically exhausted himself I heard, but I didn't see him. I think an elf put him upstairs. I took three injured from one of those platforms early on, Ronald, Emmeline, and George. George was the only one awake and talking. Said something about an 'axeman'. That might explain some of the cuts. They all had broken bones also. I stabilized all three and sent them to St. Mungo's a while ago."
Healer Reagan consulted a couple of scribbled notes briefly.
"Um, let's see…Susan, yes she took a stray curse despite being on a platform. Not sure what it was, but it was causing some seizures, so I sent her to St. Mungo's as well. Then there was that Diggle fellow. I think he's with Dumbledore's group? He took a nasty cutter to the gut. I almost lost him, but I managed to package him up and send him off. Then there was another platform that got hit by fiendfyre I was told. I know the burns looked right nasty. I was told they jumped also. Young woman named Ginny was talking to me alright, but a young man named Blaise and a Mr. Lovegood both had broken bones as well. The men both had extensive burns and may not make it. That's just the ones I know were in your groups."
Harry and Hermione both took a moment to absorb the information. So many were hurt and so many were lost. None of their friends, at least that they knew of, although some of the injuries sounded bad. Even their friends who were supposed to be safe on the sniper platforms hadn't been. Harry wanted to go to St. Mungo's and see them.
Harry you can't. You've got broken ribs and bruised lungs. The last thing you need to do is move around and cause a piece of loose bone to poke into a lung or worse, into your heart.
Damn, I know, doesn't mean I have to like it.
I can go though. I'll take a pepper-up. Just sleep more when I get back.
If you're sure.
"Thank you healer. I know Harry can't visit St. Mungo's right now, but as soon as we get him settled upstairs, I'm going to take a pepper-up and visit our friends. Then I'll come back and rest."
"You're quite exhausted as well Lady Potter."
"I'll be alright, it's my duty healer."
Healer Reagan nodded and called for Dobby as he began to prepare Harry's regimen of potions. The elf very carefully levitated Harry's stretcher and popped him upstairs to the lord's suite. Giley showed up and took Hermione's hand. She was grateful for the assist to conserve energy anyway she could. Healer Reagan and Jean followed immediately after and Harry was settled in the bed as Hermione levitated and changed him before the regimen of potions began. As soon as he was asleep, Jean agreed to stay by his side and Hermione took her pepper-up before leaving to check on everyone.
Hermione's first stop was to make rounds around the manor. Most of the Aurors were still exhausted and had opted to stay and rest for a few hours. She stopped and talked to everyone, devastated to see how each squad's numbers had diminished. Especially for squads one and two, there were drastically fewer than there should have been. She even peeked in on Dumbledore, but the old man was sleeping soundly. With the manor checked, she then floo'd to St. Mungo's to check on all of her friends.
Upon arriving at the hospital, Hermione stepped forward to the welcome witch, who looked bored and a bit annoyed.
"What can I help you with?"
"I'm here to check on a number of patients that were evacuated from Potter Manor by Healer Reagan."
"Are you immediate family?"
"No."
"Immediate family only for emergent injuries."
"I don't believe you understand. I am the Lady Potter. My husband is Lord Harry Potter. He defeated Lord Voldemort a bit over an hour ago in a duel. I am here to visit the House Potter allies who were injured in the resultant battle. I am here on House Potter business. I must insist."
Hermione rubbed her signet and glared at the witch, who actually stepped back a bit. The entire waiting room had quieted from the usual buzz that echoed around. Hermione kept staring at the witch, waiting for her to respond and not letting up. Finally the witch turned on her heel and left through a series of double doors behind her. She returned a few moments later with an older woman in grey robes lined in purple.
"Hello. I'm Matron Hemp, are you Lady Potter?"
"Yes, hello. I'm Lady Hermione Potter. I'm here to check on our House Potter allies."
"Very good. Please follow me. I have a list of those that Healer Reagan has sent. They're in two different wards. Did you want to see anyone specifically?"
"Um, well I want to make sure the Aurors are well, but I have a number of friends who were injured who aren't Aurors."
"Of course. Let me see. We have a Mr. Diggle first here. Is he a relation? He seems a bit old to be a friend, but he will be the first we come to. Severe internal injuries, the cutter crossed his liver, pancreas, gallbladder, and a kidney. We may not be able to save the kidney, but we're still working on him. He will live though, although it's taken quite a few blood replenishers."
"Mr. Diggle is an acquaintance. I'm glad to hear that he will be alright. Who else do you have?"
"Let's see, next is a Ginevra Weasley. Much closer to your age. She has some severe burns on her back, head, and arms, but she was talking to us. Quite a fiery young woman according to the notes from the ward healer. She actually was quite helpful in identifying some of the others. She's been dosed on pain potions now, but you can visit her."
"Yes please, I'd like to see Ginny."
Matron Hemp nodded and led Hermione a short ways to a lift that took them up one floor. Ginny's room was just to the right of the lift when they exited. As soon as the matron led Hermione in, it was actually Susan who caught her attention first.
"Hermione! You're alright! How's Harry?"
"Susie! I didn't know you'd be in here. How are you?"
"I'm doing better. I got hit with some strange Norse curse. Similar to crucio, but different. I still get some twitches and they want to watch me for a while, but the healers think the seizures have stopped. I'm better than Ginny. She's on the other side of the curtain sleeping, which is a blessing given the burns she has and the skin that she's regrowing. My aunt was hovering until a few minutes ago, but I finally convinced her that she could leave and attend to her duties instead of watching me fall asleep."
"Yes, I heard about Ginny. I actually came to see her. I hadn't realized you were in here. I'm still trying to track down everyone. I'm running on pepper-up myself."
"Well I wish someone would tell me more. I know Blaise was on Ginny's platform, but no one will tell me anything."
Hermione turned to Matron Hemp.
"Mam, do you have a record for Blaise? He probably would have had similar burns to Ginny."
The matron flipped through her notes and paused for a moment, becoming quite somber.
"Who else was with Ginevra Weasley when the fire broke out?"
"We had sniper platforms with three people each. Ginny was teamed with Blaise and Xenophilius Lovegood."
"I see, well that makes sense. The three came in nearly at the same time. Perhaps you should rest and we can talk later Miss Bones."
"No! What is it?"
"Matron Hemp, please. We just finished fighting Voldemort and his army. We need to know."
"Alright. Blaise appears on here with only one name. He's in the critical ward still. His burns were severe. It seems likely that he may need one or two amputations due to the damage. That is if he lives. Fiendfyre burns are quite difficult to treat. As for Mr. Lovegood, he passed about a half hour after he arrived."
"Oh gods no. Poor Luna. Has she been told?"
"I don't know. Matron, has anyone else who is not an Auror that was evacuated from Potter Manor passed on?"
"No, although Ron Weasley is listed as critical as well. Apparently he has severe wounds that he attributed to an axe of some sort. I don't understand that. As for your friend Mr. Lovegood, I don't have him marked as having any next of kin notified yet."
Hermione sat down in a nearby chair, still absorbing all the information. Ron was critical with axe wounds? That had to be Mcnair. She needed to see her friends, but she needed to notify Luna about her father. She was feeling so tired though. Taking a deep breath, she willed herself forward.
"Alright Matron Hemp, I know the status on Susan, Ginny, Blaise, Mr. Lovegood, Mr. Diggle, and Ron. Please give me a quick summary on everyone else. I need to figure out who I need to see first."
"Are you sure Lady Potter? You are looking quite pale."
"Yes. I'll grab another pepper-up if I need to. The battle isn't over yet."
"Alright, let's see, I also have a George Weasley. He has two broken legs and some cuts and bruises, but he's stable. Do you know a Remus Lupin? Healer Reagan evacuated him here as well, but he's a werewolf."
"Yes, he's a good friend."
"Alright, well he's being treated in the Magical Creatures Ward upstairs with potion burn injuries. Apparently he got hit with some sort of silver solution that was meant for attacking wolves and he got hit by some instead. He didn't get much of it, but enough. He should be fine in a couple of days. Finally, the last we have that Healer Reagan sent is an Emmeline Vance, another with broken bones and also with a single axe blow. She is unconscious, but stable. We expect her to be here for the rest of the week."
"Okay, thank you for the summary, so it sounds like the only people other than Susan who are conscious at the moment are George and Emmeline, correct?"
"Yes, unless they decided to sleep."
"Understood. In that case I think I will visit them and then go back to the manor to talk to Luna and bring her back here. Is there someone here she should talk to?"
"Is she an adult? Is there any other family?"
"Yes, she's seventeen, and no, there's no other family that I know of. Luna's mother passed when she was nine."
"Alright, please have her come and talk to Ursula Bryan. I can take you to talk to your other friends now."
"Tell them I said hello Hermione and let me know how everyone is."
"Will do. You rest Susie. I'll be back later."
Hermione and Matron Hemp left, with the matron leading them first two doors down to Emmeline's room. Hermione didn't know Emmeline Vance that well, but had become acquainted with her over the previous couple of days that the Order had spent at the manor. The woman was well dosed on pain potions, but was happy to see Hermione, even if she did keep nodding off.
After leaving Emmeline, Matron Hemp led them to the other side of the floor to George's room. George was only slightly more lucid than Emmeline, but he was happy to have a distraction from the painful process of the skele-gro that was healing his legs. Arthur was by his son's bed and Hermione stayed and talked for a few minutes. The Weasley patriarch himself looked quite rundown, with a nasty bruise on the side of his head, but he brushed off her concern. When Hermione delivered the news about Xeno, Arthur choked up and insisted that Hermione go and take care of Luna. With a promise to return later, Hermione left with one more stop to make before she could head back to the manor.
Pushing herself to her limits, Hermione insisted that the matron show her to the Magical Creatures Ward to see Remus. It was a testament to her exhaustion that Hermione didn't complain and accepted the use of the lift instead of a single flight of stairs. When they arrived at Remus' room, it was small single locked cell that had to be spelled open. When they entered Hermione was glad to see that Tonks was sitting by Remus' bedside. He looked incredibly pale and was swathed in bandages from his chin to his waist, but he was awake and brightened when he saw her.
"Hermione! You look exhausted, why are you here? How's Harry?"
"I'm tired, but I had to check on everyone. Harry is recovering. He has a few injuries, but nothing too serious. He is recovering in our suite back at the manor with Healer Reagan checking on him. Since he couldn't come and check on everyone, I decided to come instead. How are you? I heard that you took potion damage."
"Yes. I got in the way of the globes that the Unspeakables were tossing. I wish they would have warned us about them. They were effective though. I'll have more scars, but probably nothing more noticeable than what I had already. Honestly, the ribs hurt as bad as the burns."
"Ribs?"
"Yes, I cracked most of them fighting my way through Fenrir's pack. Don't worry! I've had worse. I'll be out in a couple of days. Us wolves are tough."
Hermione nodded and looked toward Tonks. She looked worried and was shaking her head as she moved to adjust Remus' blankets. She had a few visible cuts of her own, but didn't look to bad. She had been in squad three if Hermione remembered correctly.
"Tonks, how about you, are you alright?"
"Yes, fine. Nothing but a few scratches and one cracked bone in a foot that I healed on my own. Our field medic treated me, I didn't even need a healer."
"Alright, well I'm glad you're both alright. I really am quite tired and I need to get back to the manor and talk to Luna. I don't know if you heard, but Xeno Lovegood passed from his injuries. I have to inform Luna and bring her to the hospital yet. After that I do need some rest. I'll come back tomorrow."
"Gods no, I hadn't heard. You go take care of Luna and yourself. We're fine here. We'll see you in a day or two."
Hermione excused herself and exited the ward with Matron Hemp, who escorted her back to the lobby. Rather than apparate in her exhausted state, Hermione opted to take the floo back to the manor.
Once she was back at the manor, Hermione went directly to the infirmary and was glad to find Healer Reagan. He reported no change in Harry, who was still resting comfortably. He wasn't pleased with Hermione's exhaustion, but when she notified him of what she still needed to do, he reluctantly agreed to give her one more pepper-up. The second dose didn't help as much as the first, but she thought it would see her through what she needed to do. Once she had visited the loo and washed her face, she called for Giley to ask where Luna was. It took a minute for the elves to check, but her friend was found on the back veranda, where Hermione quickly made her way to. As soon as she arrived and Luna saw Hermione heading for her, the blonde rose to meet her.
"Hermione! How are you? How is Harry doing? They said he was stable and resting. Can you tell us about the others? I tried to go to the hospital, but the healers told me to stay here until the triage was done and someone would send word. I've been waiting for a healer to come like they said they would."
"I'm alright. Mainly tired. Harry will be better in a week or so. I don't know why a healer hasn't come, at least to talk to Reagan. Probably just lost track in the confusion. I have been to the hospital though and can tell you more."
Hermione looked around and saw that the veranda was crowded with scattered groups of Aurors and others who were eating buffet style and talking in casual settings. Wanting more privacy, she took Luna by an arm and led her inside.
"I need to talk to you Luna. Let's go in the parlor. I just came from St. Mungo's where I've been visiting all the injured. I know they weren't allowing visitors, but being Lady Potter has its privileges."
They reached the parlor and the two friends sat down next to each other as Hermione turned to face her friend.
"First, let me tell you about Ron. His platform was attacked by Macnair, who apparently took his axe to it. Even though he couldn't see it, he was able to get some lucky hits in and took the platform down. Those on the platform fell and suffered some broken bones. Ron got the worse of it, apparently he fell in front of Macnair. He fought back, but he was in a prone position and took some axe blows. He's in critical condition."
Hermione let that first bad news set in as she put an arm around Luna. Her friend looked at Hermione and could tell she wasn't done.
"Alright, what else?"
"Luna, did they tell you anything about the details from the end of the battle, about a fire?"
"Yes, I heard one of the platforms caught on fire and they had to evacuate it."
"Yes, it was the platform that Blaise, Ginny, and your father were on. They jumped off the platform to get away and a couple of them broke bones. The fire was actually fiendfyre and the Death Eater who cast it had very poor control of it. All three of them were burned. Ginny is stable, but Blaise is critical and may need some amputations, it still too early to tell. Your father was sent to St. Mungo's immediately, but his burns were too severe. I'm sorry Luna, but he passed a short while after he arrived at the hospital."
Hermione reached to hold Luna's hand as her friend seemed to suddenly fold in on herself, looking at Hermione with vacant eyes. Minutes past without a sound and then she suddenly let out a strange whimper before finally speaking.
"Da…Daddy's…gone?"
"I'm so sorry Luna."
Luna doubled over at that point and Hermione wrapped her arms around her friend and held her. No tears flowed, but instead Luna rocked herself, whimpering occasionally. Hermione found herself crying instead for her friend, feeling unable to do anything. She was unsure how long they sat there when Luna eventually unfolded herself and sat up.
"What am I going to do?"
"Well, the hospital wants to talk to you. I'll go with you. And if you want, I can ask my mum if she will come. And you are welcome to stay here with us as long as you need. Anything we can do, just ask. You have friends Luna, you're not alone."
"Th..thanks. Yes, can your mum come."
"Sure, let's see where she is."
A quick check with the elves found Jean back in the infirmary. Hermione went to talk to her mum briefly and soon Jean was holding Luna as the threesome made their way to floo back to St. Mungo's. Hermione had a strange sense of deja vu when she arrived back at the hospital only an hour or so after having left. This time she was led to a social services office where she and her mum supported Luna for the half hour or so that it took to complete the immediate paperwork that was needed. By the time that was done, so was Hermione. Luna still wanted to see Ron, so Jean went with Luna to visit him upstairs while Hermione went on back to the manor. The pepper-ups had all but worn off and she happily floo'd back home.
As soon as she arrived via the floo, Hermione called for Dobby and had the elf pop her up to her suite, where Hermione barely managed to shed her robes before she crawled in next to Harry. She only briefly thought of all her injured friends and the aftermath of the battle before she let blessed sleep claim her.
Hermione slept for a grateful ten hours before she was roused by the arrival of her mother and Healer Reagan, coming with a tray of potions for both her and Harry. It was the morning after the battle and they both woke with groans. Harry was ordered to stay in bed, but Hermione knew she needed to get back to the hospital. She didn't want to worry Harry, but he queried her about their friends before she could divert his thoughts.
"Love, how did everything go at the hospital? Who is hurt?"
Hermione sighed and knew from the look that Harry was giving her that he needed to know. Truthfully, he was much stronger than the day before, although he was still in a lot of pain.
"Alright, I'll tell you everything, but you have to stay in bed another day at least. You cannot set your healing back. Agreed?"
Harry scowled, but nodded. With his agreement, Hermione went ahead and asked Healer Reagan to wait on the potions while she gave Harry a brief summary of everyone's injuries. He was dismayed to hear that several of their friends were badly injured and especially that Luna had lost her father. Hermione knew he hated being confined, but he had made the agreement with her. Once she finished, Healer Reagan examined Harry and seemed satisfied with his progress. He administered the first potions of the morning and then quickly examined Hermione. Other than still being a bit rundown, she was fine, so an elf was called to deliver breakfast for the both of them before the healer had some final news.
"Now Harry and Hermione, I need to get back to St. Mungo's. I'll leave you instructions and potions and check back in tomorrow morning, but Jean should be able to take care of you and I know Hermione will be visiting the hospital. If you need me, just floo call the hospital."
"Thank you for everything healer."
With that the healer left just as their food was arriving. Jean sat down in a nearby chair to talk to them while they ate. She looked tired as well, but seemed to be in better spirits than the previous day.
"Alright, while the two of you eat I thought I'd update you on what has been happening around the manor. Your father and I have been keeping track of everything with the help of the elves. Immediately after the battle the uninjured Aurors and hit wizards stayed around to rest, but they've all gone home or back to the Ministry now and the elves have started to clear out the cots and such. I told the elves to not push themselves too hard on the cleanup. Taking a couple of days won't matter. The last Aurors left maybe eight hours ago. Your other allies have been in and out, mainly staying here briefly for a few hours of sleep and then going to the hospital to see the injured. I saw Sirius briefly, but he may have been at his own house. I know he's been at the hospital quite a bit. The Weasleys were here briefly, but I think they've been home and at the hospital. I brought Luna back after a couple of hours and she's still resting with the help of a dreamless sleep potion. As for the Order members, Dumbledore was the last one here, but he woke early this morning and asked me to pass on his thanks for the hospitality before leaving for the hospital and then the Ministry. He said he'd call later in the day. He still looked quite tired, but said he needed to talk to a number of people. So, other than us, your father, and Luna are the only people at this precise moment who are at the manor."
"Wow, the place cleared out quicker than I thought it would. Thanks for working with the elves. I need to get back to the hospital soon. Has there been any word on anyone? Any changes?"
"Nothing that I've heard."
Hermione nodded and the room became quiet as everyone was left to their own thoughts as breakfast soon finished. When they were done, Harry had one more potion that he had to take and then he insisted that he wanted a shower. Jean excused herself and Hermione helped her husband into their large shower. Although they traded a few kisses, Harry was nowhere near ready for any antics and was just happy to have layers of grime and blood finally washed away. By the time he was clean he was more than ready to return to bed.
Once Hermione had Harry settled, she got herself dressed and floo'd back to St. Mungo's. Since she now knew where everyone was, she bypassed the hectic lobby and made her way to the lift. Moving through the crowd purposefully and acting like she belonged meant that no one questioned her. Her first stop was the critical ward where she found Arthur and Bill at Ron's bedside. Unlike the previous day, Ron was partially awake, although he was on a heavy pain solution and seemed feverish. As soon as she knocked, Arthur welcomed her in.
"Good morning Hermione, come in. He's awake. How are you and Harry?"
"I'm fine, just tired. Harry is recovering at home. He's still on mandated bed rest until all his broken ribs and lungs heal. What do the healers say here? I haven't been by in over twelve hours."
"Perhaps we should step out for a moment..."
Hermione accepted Arthur's hand as he led them out to the hallway to talk.
"Hermione, it's been a long night here. Ron broke a hip when he fell, but the worse of the injuries came from the fact that he couldn't get up and fight Mcnair after the platform came down. He took at least six axe blows and the bastard had some kind of poison on the blade that prevents wounds from healing. There's no easy way to say this, but last night to save Ron's life, they had to amputate his right leg. He almost lost a hand and part of an arm, but the wound wasn't as deep. He's going to have some horrific scars, but in the last couple of hours we've turned a corner and the healers don't think any more amputations are going to be necessary. He's only semi-lucid and we don't think he's realized what they had to do yet."
Hermione felt everything drop out from under her as she crumpled and Arthur caught her. She began to sob into his chest. Ron was such a big, strong bloke that the idea of him missing a limb seemed impossible. Suddenly her breakfast rebelled and she turned quickly away as she heaved and emptied her stomach as her sobs grew worse. A nearby healer came over and vanished the mess while also producing a calming draught that he seemed to have waiting in a pocket on standby. Hermione didn't even think as she downed it and felt the waves of calmness quiet her sobs. She turned back to Arthur and shook her head.
"Sorry Arthur."
"Don't worry about it, we all understand. Do you want to try to talk to him?"
Hermione nodded and dried her face as she followed him back in the room to see her friend. She spent a few minutes by Ron's bedside and thought she saw a brief flicker of recognition as she was talking, but wasn't sure. Then she looked up at the others.
"By the way, how are George and Ginny? I haven't made it to them yet."
"George is up to his usual ways. Pranking and flirting with nurses. The skele-gro is almost done with the work on his legs. Fred and Charlie are with him and we take turns checking on him and giving him updates on everyone. Molly, Percy, and Neville are with Ginny. We're divided up between each of the rooms."
"Alright, well, I'm going to make my rounds to everyone. I'll be back to check in with you all in a while."
Arthur hugged her as Hermione made her way to her next stop in the critical ward two doors down to see Blaise. When she entered she found both Susan and Amelia sitting on opposite sides of a bed that was contained in an unusual warded field that was visible as a faint golden bubble. Within it Blaise could be seen swathed in bandages and with multiple tubes of potions running to bottles of potions on the side of the bed. A healer stood to the side constantly monitoring him and he looked even worse than Ron had. Hermione took a deep breath as she stepped closer. Susan turned and stood up to greet Hermione with a hug.
"Hi Susie. It's good to see you out of bed. How are you feeling? Are you discharged?"
"Yes, as of a couple of hours ago. As soon as I could, I came up here to be with Blaise. He needs someone to be with him. Auntie has been here as much as she can, but he doesn't really have anyone."
"What are the healers saying?"
"Well, as of this morning, they've stopped the burn progression. Now they have to remove the dead skin and start growing new skin. The problem is that fiendfyre is a dark curse so it leaves a lot of scarring. Auntie is having a specialist called in from Russia to come and work with the healers here to hopefully reduce the scarring, but it may still be quite severe. They also don't know if he'll ever be able to grow hair again. He's in a lot of pain right now as well, so they're keeping him asleep. He probably won't be awake for a few days."
Hermione just nodded and gripped her friend's hand. There wasn't much she could say, so she just went to sit and be with Susan for a while. They talked for a few minutes about the battle and also about their other friends before Hermione excused herself to go see the others.
The next several hours were much the same for Hermione and she was glad that she had already emptied her stomach as each encounter was painful, even those with friends who were starting to recover. Ginny was doing the best of the burn victims, but her hair was so devastated that she had opted to cut the front and sides of her hair short to lessen the dramatic impact where her hair had burned off in the back. She also had burns to her shoulders and upper arms, but had escaped most of the injuries that the others on the platform had suffered.
Along with visiting her allies, Hermione also stopped by to visit Dedalus Diggle and Emmeline Vance. The two Order members were both recovering well from their own injuries and were due to be released within the week. Dedalus had lost a kidney, but his liver and pancreas had been repaired from the damage they suffered from the cutting curse. Emmeline meanwhile had broken her leg and a hand when her platform had fallen and had also taken one axe blow, but all her injuries were treatable.
Hermione stayed at the hospital until shortly after one and then floo'd back to the manor, finding herself more exhausted than she would care to admit, both physically and emotionally. The day would set a pattern for the following week as she would make visiting her injured friends a priority.
A week after the battle everyone had been released home except for Ginny, Ron, and Blaise. The three of them remained, but were all stable enough that their family members all left them long enough to attend the memorial service for Xeno Lovegood held at the cemetery in Ottery St. Catchpole. Luna was still staying at the manor, but she returned her father to the ancestral ground of his family and to the spot next to the wife that he had lost years earlier.
Along with Xeno, the battle saw the loss of twenty-seven brave Aurors, nine hit wizards, and two Unspeakables. Amelia and Kingsley attended the services for all of them. Harry had come to know a few of them over the week they had stayed at Potter Manor and he also attended a few of the services with Hermione.
Nine days after the battle, Ginny was released from the hospital, although she still had a heavy regimen of potions and bandage changes. The day was also Harry's sixteenth birthday. He insisted on a quiet celebration at the manor with his close family and friends. They had a simple luncheon with good food and cake, but the celebration didn't go overly long. It was good to have Ginny with them, but two of their number were still missing.
It would be an additional ten days before Ron would be released from the hospital. The loss of his leg was difficult for him and his demeanor remained sullen, despite Luna's attempts to raise his spirits while she herself was still grieving. His arrival home came just in time to celebrate Ginny's birthday the day following his homecoming.
Blaise was the last to be released a week after Ron and just two weeks before the start of school. Home for him was Bones Manor, where he and Susan set aside past differences and realized what was truly important after all they had been through together.
With all of combatants back to some semblance of normal life and Voldemort defeated, Harry and Hermione looked forward to a brighter future for themselves and all of their friends and allies.